Cuomo and OGS officials maintain there is an 11 p.m. curfew in Lafayette Park, which is apparently not in writing anywhere, is not posted and was conceived a week before the protest. A State Police spokesman declined to comment Wednesday morning, but reiterated the curfew on Oct. 24, saying it was “speculative” to predict if any violators would be arrested.

Russell would end the speculation. He started passing out the below flyer — silhouetted with the countenance of Guy Fawkes, a 17th-century British revolutionary —on Sunday. It urges demonstrators to “join me in breeching (sic) Cuomo’s Magic Line!”

“We established ourselves over the wishes of both the mayor and gov getting great pres for our non-violent and peaceful protest all the way,” Russell wrote. “Now, we have established our infrastructure in a ‘safe’ zone and have the wind at our backs. I feel very strongly that we MUST confront the unconstitutional threats being made by the governor. We must make it clear that we have every legal right to use the public space in Lafayette Park, or any other that we choose for that matter. We are the public!”

Some protesters, citing the governor’s resistance to their presence, have made Occupy Albany about him. As we spoke, Russell said the constitutional right has not been tested. He’s an anthropology and archeology lecturer, not a lawyer, but … we’ll see. The Occupy Albany general assembly hasn’t blessed this protest in any way, so it’s unclear if Russell will attract a following. He said the more the merrier.

Russell put a sign between the border of Lafayette and Academy parks. (Jimmy Vielkind/Times Union)

Cuomo most recently addressed Occupy Albany on Nov. 1, during an event in the Red Room to sign a bill mandating health insurance companies cover autism spectrum disorder. I asked the governor if he could respond to Glen Valle, a retired State Police lawyer, who said Cuomo’s “insertion” into the enforcement was “repugnant and inexcusable” and “an egregious abuse of power.”

“No,” the governor replied.

A few moments later, he spoke at greater length about Occupy Albany and his response to it.

“There is a city portion and a state portion,” Cuomo said. “There are protesters, Occupy Albany protesters who are in a city park. My position is very simple. The city will determine whether they will enforce the curfew on the city side of the park. On the state of the park, the state will determine whether they will enforce the curfew, and the state has determined that we will enforce the curfew on the State Capitol grounds. Period. For those of you who are familiar with how the State Capitol works, we have a very active democracy in New York, which I respect. We have a lot of demonstrations, a lot of protests, a lot of people coming up to give their opinion. If you’re up here during the legislative session there are literally thousands of people in this building, on these grounds on any given day. It’s great because people make their voice heard. Legislators get to hear in close proximity and high decibel level exactly how their constituents think they should vote, but it is also a situation that has to be managed, and the state’s position is, we have to enforce the curfews if we want to operate the complex.”

Cuomo also repeated a saw from other radio interviews, that he’s “fine” with the demonstrations on city property. I mentioned this to Russell.

“He’s a hypocrite. Free speech is a priority for him if it supports his political agenda,” Russell said. “If he’s fine with this then I’m sure he won’t order any arrests next Saturday night.”

Russell also added that he will not resist arrest, beyond being dead weight if troopers try to remove him.

Cuomo’s spokesman Josh Vlasto, after several days of back-and-forth, declined to comment.